


Absolutely Fantastic

by LongestArms



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 07:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15725160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LongestArms/pseuds/LongestArms
Summary: The TARDIS gets an unexpected visitor, and Bill learns that the Fantastic Four are more than what she sees in her comic books.





	Absolutely Fantastic

**Author's Note:**

> A quick little bit of fun I wrote one evening. Hope everyone enjoys.

Bill thrust a brightly-coloured booklet into the Doctor’s face.

“Look at this! Talk about mint condition. Well, I guess it’s not really the same if it’s fresh from the store when it should be fifty years old. But it’s not as if I have to really tell that to anyone.”

“It won’t be mint condition for long if you keep going on like that.” The Doctor leaned away, an eyebrow raising in time with the corner of his lip. “We’ve only just left the shop. Why go wasting your hard-earned ten cents?”

Bill rolled her eyes, flicking through the fifth ever issue of Fantastic Four.

“I just said it’s meant to be old. It won’t look right if I don’t get to read it once or twice first.”

“How very wise.”

“Plus, come on! First, it’s all about Doctor Doom, and then they’re all mucking about hunting for Blackbeard! It’s like a rollercoaster!”

“It’s certainly something from a theme park! Where’s all the gooey, messy, human bits in the middle? Doing the real thing is much more my cup of tea.”

Bill turned to the next page.

“…Who’s your favourite?” The Doctor asked.

Bill pursed her lips.

“The Human Torch.” She looked up at the Doctor, closing the book. “How awesome would it be to just fly around and light up the sky?”

“Not the dashing genius, Reed Richards?” The Doctor brought his hands to his lapels. His other eyebrow rose up to join the first.

“Nah, he’s no fun at all! Imagine if you had a teacher who was also your dad! ‘Sorry, I know we’re about to go explore the centre of the Earth, but have you got your homework done?’ Just because his stretchy arms are cool doesn’t mean he’s cool.”

They turned a corner.

“I—” The Doctor’s mouth fell open. “Hello…”

Ten feet away from them stood the TARDIS. Nine feet away from them stood a pair of children.

Bill guessed they couldn’t be older than six. One, a boy, paced around the large blue box. He stomped his foot down on the pavement with every step. The other, a girl, stood in front of the door. With her hands on her hips, she looked up toward the roof. Bill followed her gaze, noticing the large, orange blob sitting on top of the ship.

“That’s a cat!” The Doctor spluttered, “What’s a cat doing, taking a nap on my TARDIS?”

“Come on, Ben! Come down!” The girl shouted.

The boy joined the other in front of the doors. He began jumping in place, grunting in exertion as he landed.

“Hello.” Bill strode forward, “Is that your cat up there?”

“That’s Ben.” Said the boy. “He’s asleep.”

“Through all the noise you’re making?” Bill looked up at the cat. “Can’t you get him down?”

“We already tried climbing up there.” Said the girl. “But Ben’s a better climber than us.”

Bill jumped, the Doctor appearing behind them.

“He can’t stay up there. That’s my TARDIS. We’ve got places to go; people to see. Haven’t we, Bill?”

“He’s right, we kinda do.” Bill bit her lip. “But we can’t just go off with a cat on the roof, can we? What if it ends up coming with us? Does that happen if there’s something hanging on when we take off?”

“Sadly so.” Said the Doctor.

“Is that Fantastic Four?” The boy poked at the book in Bill’s hand.

“Yeah, it is!” Bill opened her book to the first page. The two children huddled around her, craning their necks over her shoulders. “Check it! Doctor Doom’s gone and thrown a giant net over the whole Baxter Building!”

“And he’s kidnapped Invisible Girl!” The girl squeezed Bill’s arm.

“Don’t worry about it, Patsy!” The boy said, “The Thing can rescue her, anytime!”

“Oh, hey, yeah!” Bill looked between the two of them, “I completely forgot! I’m Bill.”

“That’s a weird name for a girl.” Said the boy.

“And Elliott is a weird name for a stupid, mean brother!” Said Patsy.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve heard weirder.” Bill smiled at Elliott. “And you’ve met the Doctor…Oh, god, where’s he gone?”

Both of the TARDIS doors opened, and the Doctor emerged. He pulled a large, metal crate after him. A loud clunk sounded as it hit the pavement.

“While you lot were having fun in your rollercoaster, I was busy looking for the real thing.”

He hauled open the lid. Inside the crate were several gleaming, silver machines. What looked like a pair of gloves hung from the ends of two thick, extendable rods. A pair of bulky steel boots gave off a warm, red glow. A sleek bodysuit wrapped around a network of wires and circuitry. An enormous, glowing medallion the size of Bill’s head sat in the centre of a body harness.

“None of us are tall enough to reach all the way up there. Does anyone fancy giving someone else a boost up?”

“Me! Mememe!” Elliott leaped to his feet, arm jutting into the air.

“Lovely!” The Doctor beamed. He picked out the harness with the large medallion. “Put this on. You can pop around the box, if you’d like.”

Elliott snatched the machine. Moments later, he disappeared behind the TARDIS.

“Now, when one of us heads up there to get the cat down, he’s not going to be too thrilled at being woken up. We’ll need someone quiet; sneaky; subtle—”

“Me!” Shouted Patsy.

The Doctor handed her the bodysuit. “Here you go. It’ll fit over your clothes.”

Patsy nodded, already fitting one leg into the suit.

Finally, the Doctor lay the steel boots down in front of Bill.

Bill looked down at the boots. Then over to Patsy. Then up at the Doctor.

“What’s all this about, exactly?”

“Boots first. Ask questions later.”

“I’m just saying,” Bill sat down, slipping the first one over her shoe. “If anything happens, you’re the one doing the explaining.”

Elliott burst out from behind the TARDIS. The medallion sat in the centre of his torso, held in place by the harness.

“Tah-daaaah!” He thrust out his chest. “What does this do?”

The Doctor kneeled down in front of him. He squeezed the medallion, the front plate rotating. A low hum began to emit from the disc.

“There you are,” he stepped back. “Now…How about you try picking up Bill over there?”

“Eh? Hang on a—Wah!”

Bill’s mouth fell open as Elliott lifted her off the ground.

“Oi! Doctor, what have you—”

The boy pulled one hand away, holding her up with a single arm.

“That’s enough for now, I think.”

Bill leaned forward, her feet hitting the ground. Elliott beamed at the Doctor.

“That’s a gravitic nullifier you’ve got there.” Said the Doctor. “You’re currently as strong as you would be on a planet with half of Earth’s gravity.”

“It’s cool!” Said Elliott, “I’m just like—”

He was cut off by a sudden shriek.

“What’s happened?” Patsy’s voice rang out. The ends of the Doctor’s coat were yanked down. “Where am I?”

“Clench your left hand.” The Doctor began, “There should be a button right where your thumb wants to go.”

Patsy shimmered into view. A pink flush filled her cheeks.

Bill snapped her fingers. “Ohhh…”

She knelt down, running her hands across the boots. Two dials jutted out, just above her ankles. With a twist, the shoes flashed red. They began to vibrate. Bill floated into the air.

“And there’s our Human Torch.”

“Woah!” She flung her arms out to the side. Her body wobbled for a moment. Her feet hung three feet above Patsy and Elliott’s heads.

“Same technology that powers our ever-loving, blue-eyed Thing. It’s all gravity. Except for Patsy, of course. Then it’s all bending light. Now! Time to sort out this cat taking an unwarranted snooze on my TARDIS!”

Elliott nodded. He stood by the TARDIS door. Patsy looked up at the Doctor, before rushing over to her brother.

The boy gripped his sister’s waist. Patsy rose from the ground. She leaned forward, holding her hands against the wooden wall.

“Ready?” Said Elliott.

Patsy nodded.

The girl faded from sight. Elliott raised his arms as far as he could.

A thud rumbled from the roof of the TARDIS. The orange blob stirred. Ben sprang to his feet. He stood, frozen on all fours. His head snapped around, glancing in every direction.

Quiet, scuffling sounds came from the roof. They moved closer to the cat.

Ben stared in the direction of the noises.

“Got you!”

Ben flung himself to the side. Patsy shimmered back into view. Her arms wrapped around empty space.

“Ben!”

Elliott rushed away from the TARDIS. His arms spread wide. Ben’s shadow crossed the ground, past him.

A larger shadow engulfed the cat’s.

Bill swung through the air. Ben screeched as he fell onto her. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight.

“Got him!”

The Doctor clapped his hands together, “Nicely done, the lot of you!”

Patsy looked down over the edge of the TARDIS. She gripped the rim of the glowing Police Box sign. Closing her eyes, she pushed herself over. Her feet dangled in the air for a moment, before dropping to the floor.

Bill drifted downward, still holding onto the cat.

“And you’ve never mentioned these before, why?”

“Ben!” Patsy took the cat from Bill’s arms.

“Who says Mr. Fantastic needs his stretchy arms to be cool?” The Doctor grinned.

Bill’s mouth fell open.

“Probably shouldn’t let Reed hear about this. He’d talk my ear off about safety concerns and all that boring stuff.”

“Now you’re really having me on.”

“Just a little. Being honest, I don’t think he’s ever really forgiven me for dumping a big, scary robot on his rooftop once.”

“Wow.”

“Thank you so much, Bill!” Patsy squeezed her face against Ben’s furry body.

Elliott dropped his harness back into the metal crate. Bill did the same with her boots.

“No problem.” She ruffled the girl’s hair. “Glad to help.”

Elliott took the cat from his sister. Patsy began to peel off her invisibility suit.

“How come that box is so important, anyway?”

“Oh! Well, uh…” Bill looked at the Doctor.

The Doctor didn’t answer. He tucked the arm of Patsy’s suit into the crate. The lid swung closed.

“Doctor?” Bill forced a smile.

He dragged the crate back inside the TARDIS. A moment later, he reappeared, leaning on the doorframe.

“Right then, Bill. How about we show them something really fantastic?”

“It’d be fantastic if you never said that again.” Bill shuffled past him into the ship. She poked her head out, giving the children a final wave.

They waved back.

“See you later!” She called as the doors closed.

The light on the box flashed. Ancient engines groaned in complaint. The TARDIS faded away.

Patsy’s mouth hung open. Elliott’s arms dropped to his sides.

Ben fell to the floor and scurried off into the distance.


End file.
